Asked by Denton about his own experiences working with the embattled actor over two decades ago, Pearce chose his words carefully.

“Yeah … yeah. Tough one to talk about at the moment. Amazing actor; incredible actor. Mmm. Slightly difficult time with Kevin, yeah,” Pearce said, before uttering four words that made the studio audience gasp: “He’s a handsy guy.”

Even Denton seemed momentarily lost for words by this — but Pearce continued.

“Thankfully I was 29, and not 14,” he said, prompting more audience gasps.

The interview and Pearce’s startling revelation has since made headlines around the world.

Denton moved the conversation along, asking about Pearce’s old friend and occasional co-star Kylie Minogue.

“Divine. Not as handsy as I’d like her to be,” Pearce quipped.

“I sort of had a crush on her [during Neighbours]; I have more of a crush on her now.”

Elsewhere in Pearce and Denton’s very frank half-hour chat, the actor and singer opened up about drug taking, the end of his 18-year marriage to childhood sweetheart Kate Mestitz in 2015, and the new love he’s found with Dutch actor and mother to his young son Monte, Carice van Houten.

“What happened to your marriage?” Denton asked.

“I’ve spent the last couple of years making sure I protect Kate in all this, and not really saying what happened, and particularly not saying that it was her decision to end the marriage. I’ve realised that I’m actually not doing her any favours in this — aside from the fact I have people coming up to me saying ‘You’re a bastard for having an affair with Carice and getting her pregnant and then leaving your wife’ and all this.”

“I’m actually really proud of Kate for what she did. As sad as it was for me, for her to go ‘You know what, our time’s up’ was incredibly strong of her. I’m very proud of her...”

Guy Pearce was married to Kate Mestitz for 18 years.Source:News Limited

Guy Pearce and Carice van Houten with their son Monte. Picture: Twitter/Guy PearceSource:Supplied

He admitted the split had “blindsided” him but he could see his ex-wife’s point that, having got together so young, they were in some way still stuck as the kids they were when they met.

However, it wasn’t an easy breakup — Pearce spoke of drinking to excess and having a “death wish” after their split, including a moment in Berlin where he contemplated walking into traffic.

“I thought, well, if I get drunk enough and I stagger onto that road, we’ll see what happens.”

Pearce also opened up about perhaps the darkest time in his life, a period of several years from around 1999 when he turned his back on his burgeoning Hollywood career and smoked too much cannabis.

“I was getting really grumpy and I was turning to smoking more and ... I was horrible ... a prick,” Pearce admitted.

It was a period that saw Pearce turn down a starring role in The Matrix, one of the few missed opportunities he admits he now regrets.

“They were keen, and I met with them, but I just didn’t understand it. I didn’t know what was going on. It all just felt a bit big and commercial and sci-fi and not my thing,” he said.

Pearce stars in the upcoming second season of Jack Irish, starting Sunday night, July 8 at 8.30pm on ABC and ABC iview.